Iggy: A Maximum Ride Novel
by Wolfmilk
Summary: A continuation. This will be a novel based around Iggy. This is how I picture the next events of Maximum Ride series. The flock will meet new enemies, new allies and go to different places. More info inside. There is NO Max/Iggy pairing in this fic! ON HOLD
1. The search begins

**Iggy: A Maximum Ride Novel**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognise. Maximum Ride belongs to James Patterson. Nuff said.**

**James Patterson said that the next and final book, Nevermore, is set to be released in August 2012. I can't be bothered to wait for August 2012 so I'm going to try and write up my own novel and see if I can get it finished before August 2012. I'm sticking to canon (so far) and this is my own version of the unreleased eighth book. **

**Why don't Iggy, Gazzy and Nudge get a book named after themselves?****An evil Plotbunny attacked me one day and screamed, "Write a novel about Iggy!" I said, "Why not?"**

**Since each book is approximately 50 000 words long, that's how I long intend my fanfic to be. Each chapter will be 2 000 words long and there will be 25 chapters all together. So that all means that each week, I'll post one chapter, then I'll be on a safe schedule.**

**This is the continuation of the current Maximum Ride series. Sets at the end of Fang: A Maximum Ride Novel where Max goes to find Ella and Fang goes to "kill the plant [One Light] at its roots.**

**~Wolfmilk~**

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><p>A worried and nervous looking man dressed in a business suit sprinted along the streets of Shanghai, up to his stern faced boss.<p>

"What news do you have?" A strong metallic voice enquired.

The business man straightened his tie and gulped inaudibly to the ordinary human ear. Small beads of sweat were being to appear on his forehead and it was clear that he did not wish to be in his boss's presence.

"The subjects has been released," he declared with a hint of discomfort. "But there were some… complications…," his voice faltered.

His boss raised a jet black eyebrow which clearly meant "go-on."

"One of the subjects broke their constraints and one of the staff was attacked and injured," the man continued stiffly.

"I was misled, it seems," the boss wondered out loud, his head slightly cocked to the side and supposedly deep in thought.

The messenger relaxed an inch.

"…that my staffs were in complete control of the trainees," the boss continued, amusement showing on his face as he watched the other man shiver.

"Tell the institute that I will be waiting."

"Yes sir!" The envoy saluted and walked back in the direction he came from, relieved to get away from the other man.

It was just another ordinary day. My flock and I were flying across the Altantic Ocean. We've been flying for two hours straight and my flock was getting tired.

"Max! How can you be sure that Ella is at the School?" Nudge suddenly said out loud. "I mean, we've told her all about what they did to us there? Why would she go to the School?"

I sighed and ran my fingers through my brown hair which was whipping around because of the wind. "Nudge, we've gone through this many times. For some wacky reason, Ella wants wings and–"

"Well, of course she wants wings! Ella has seen us fly. She has seen how cool it is. Who wouldn't be jealous of having wings?" Nudge argued.

"Nudge, you've just answered your own question. Ella wants her own pair of wings. That's why she went to the School. I think that she wants them grafted on to her," Gazzy spoke up.

"Yeah but why would she want wings _grafted_ on to her? That's just disgusting. And plus she–"

"Ella's just a bit confused," I spoke up, hoping that Nudge will be quiet. I don't want to think about what the whitecoats would do to my half-sister. "Let's just find Ella and then find my mum and Jeb."

"And then Angel," Total murmured quietly.

"What's that, Total?" I said sharply, turning to towards him and looking him straight into the eye.

I half-expected Total to laugh and pass off his comment as a joke but instead he returned my stare with determined eyes. Total regarded me coldly and spoke to the whole flock.

"You guys are forgetting about Angel. You think that Ella, Dr. Valencia Martinez and Jeb was more important than Angel don't you?" Total said with a steely voice.

I frowned. What was wrong with Total? He had never acted this way before. Sure he'd been annoying but never this... _serious_. Of all the time I had spent with the talkative dog, never had I heard him serious. In fact, "Total" was an acronym of "serious".

"What are you talking about?" Gazzy said.

Total glared at Gazzy, "Instead of finding Angel, you all want to find Ella and others who aren't even part of the flock."

"Total. Angel is-"

"Dead?" Total asked, mockingly. I scowled at his tone, something was wrong with Total.

"On the contrary to what you may think, I _know _that Angel is not dead. Why won't you guys believe me?"

"Total! Stop talking nonsense. How would you know, anyway? It's not like you can predict the future, _dog_," I spat harshly. I knew that I shouldn't be so hard on Total since Angel was a sensitive topic for us. How dare he bring it up and talk some trash about Angel? Right now, all of us we trying to forget about the fact that Angel was... dead. Now Total was talking about her as if he was arguing about what the weather would be like tomorrow.

"Shut up the both of you!" Gazzy yelled at Total and I.

I resumed my flying, as if I had never had this conversation with Total. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that Total did the same. He didn't look at all hurt, but I could tell that I had ruffled his feathers. And I wasn't sorry at all.

All I have to do is focus on finding Ella.

_Max, you're making a big mistake. _Oh brilliant, my good ol' friend, Voice, is back. _Your sister is not part of the bigger picture. _I don't care about your stupid "bigger picture". I yelled mentally. I can't just leave her at the School. _You didn't leave her there. She went of her own accord. _Yeah, like I needed to be reminded of that. I still had the piece of paper which she left for me back at the desert. "I was meant to have wings," was what she wrote in her neat cursive handwriting. My hand curled into a fist. If you're so smart, Voice, why would you just tell me what to do? I thought back. As usual, the Voice became silent at my question.

"Oi Max, I'm hungry," Iggy said, "do you see any restaurants anywhere?" I groaned.

"Ig, we're in the middle of the ocean. I don't think that there would be any floating restaurants passing by any time soon."

"Actually, Max. I can see something," Dylan said smoothly, as if he was waiting for that precise moment to tell me.

"Oh?"

"There's a really posh cruise ship over there," Dylan pointed at two o'clock.

"I don't see anything," I frowned even with my raptor vision.

"Neither do I," Iggy moaned.

"I'm rolling my eyes, Iggy."

"Guys, there's food on that ship. It looks like the passengers are celebrating something." Dylan said. "There's a party going on there."

"Are you sure it's a normal cruise ship, not one which has snipers secretly hidden somewhere?"

"I don't see anything suspicious," Dylan frowned, knitting his perfect black eyebrows together.

"Can we just crash the party then?" Gazzy pleaded with me, giving his best sweet smile. I almost chuckled. Gazzy was clearly trying to copy his sister, Angel, with her angelic smiles.

"Let vote on it then," I announced, trying to be democratic. "Those who want to go to a random ship possibly infested with whitecoats and evil mutant but has lots of food which may possibly be poisoned, say aye."

Nudge, Gazzy, Total and Iggy all said, "aye." Iggy added, "Gee, since when did you get all politician-like?"

"Dylan?" I asked, "I thought that you would have wanted to go too."

"What would you choose, Max? I'll agree with whatever you pick," he smiled, flashing his clean white teeth at me. I wish that he wouldn't suck up to me.

"Just pick a choice!" I insisted. Leave it to Mr. Perfect to be indecisive. "Frankly, I'll just go with whatever my flock picks." I said, emphasising the fact that Dylan was not part of my flock.

"Ma-ax!" Nudge said with an annoying sing-song voice. "Can we just go? It's already voted that we go, four out of six." With a start, I realised that she was right. Way to go Max, I scolded myself.

"Let's go then. Um, Dylan? Can you lead the way?" I asked uncomfortably. I hated handing the leadership to anyone, let alone someone NOT part of the flock. But I had no choice.

"Sure Max." Dylan confidently slightly tilted to the right and flapped his wings steadily, as if he had been flying for his whole life, which he hasn't, mind you. As much as I tried to hate him, I couldn't help feeling a tiny bit proud of his flying skills, which were taught by yours featherly.

He flew towards the front of the flock and led the group. "It's about... 10 km away." Like migrating ducks, we flew in a V-shape, with Dylan in the front and half of each flock on either side.

I tried not to concentrate on the fact that Mr. Perfect was wearing a smug smile at the prospect of leading our little group. It felt strange handing the leadership of my flock to someone else willingly-with an emphasis on _willingly_. Normally I'd feel uneasy about giving someone, not even part of my flock, the responsibility, even for a few minutes and yet I felt... relaxed.

Within a few minutes, we have reached the ship. By the time we have gotten there, saliva was drooling from Gazzy's lips. I couldn't blame him. It had been so long since I have had a hearty meal. A meal which was fit for a bird kid mutant.

"Let's crash the party‼" Gazzy shouted and landed onto the deck. The posh little humans stopped smiling and chatting. Everybody on the cruise ship was staring at Gazzy as if he was an angel who had fallen from heaven-which his technically had, seeing as he had wings and all. Remind me to lecture him later on about the fact that we needed to keep a low profile.

"C'mon Iggy, let's take all the food!" Gazzy grabbed Iggy's pale arm and dragged him to a table filled with food, completely ignoring the dumbstruck people who were still staring at him.

"Gazzy! You idiot!" I half shouted at him as I dropped to the deck of the ship. Now half of the passengers were staring at me. This was not what I had in mind when I allowed my flock to go to the ship. I was planning to sneak up on the ship, shove food into our mouths and steal some food maybe. Definitely NOT barge in like this.

"Relax Max, these people think that we're angels," Dylan's perfect voice whispered to me. He clasped his hand onto my tense shoulder but I shook him off.

"Look at what they're doing."

I tore my furious gaze off Gazzy and Iggy who were now stuffing their faces with some cake they found and scanned the crowd. Some of them were kneeling down while others' palms were held together and they were muttering some sort of prayer. They really did think we were angels despite our behaviour.

"Sweet," I whispered back to Dylan and relaxed a tiny bit.

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><p><strong>AN: I apologise if I have made any errors because I don't have a Beta reader.**

**Wow, it's hard to write and capture Max's cocky attitude. **

**Anyway, this chapter hasn't got Fang in it but he will be focused on in the next chapter, along with his "Flock"!**

**Please read and review!**


	2. Trekking through a forest

**Iggy: A Maximum Ride Novel**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognise. Maximum Ride belongs to James Patterson. Nuff said. **

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><p>Fang led his gang through a thick forest in Italy. Ratchet was beside him, every once in a while adjusting his ear phones to make sure that they were heading in the same direction. Fang was relying on Ratchet to give him the right directions to their next destination.<p>

In the aftermath of the Paris disaster, nobody in the city spoke of the One Light or anything related to it. Until few weeks ago, after the group had left Paris, Ratchet had picked up a conversation over a mile away about the Doomsday group and the One Light. The heavy built teenager had insisted to follow the conversation which Fang had readily agreed to. It was the only start they had and they were not going to lose it.

Together, Fang's gang had hiked through countries, from cities to jungles. They had not met a single robot or mutant who had wanted to kill them. Fang was particularly suspicious of this because it seemed too good to be true that the white coats from many illegal companies would forget about Fang and his group so easily.

Star was irritated beyond belief that she had to travel stuck with the "overgrown snails" as she called the others. Kate and Holden were busy not trying to get tangled with trees vines and shrubs to Fang's amusement. Maya flew over head and Fang would have accompanied her if his group hadn't protested loudly.

"I can't be stuck with him!" Star had objected, pointing an accusing finger at a bored Ratchet.

"C'mon mate, you're supposed to be our leader," Holden had also said, "you can't go off flapping your wings somewhere without us."

Although, Fang was sure he made the right decision in choosing these people, he couldn't help but wonder if it had been better to choose different Gen-77 kids who could fly. He missed the days soaring through the sky, feeling the wind rushing through his feather, with Max by his side...

"Oi Fang!" Ratchet called, breaking Fang out of his thoughts. "I think that I hear something."

"You're supposed to be hearing something for the past five days!" Star exclaimed angrily.

"What is it, Ratchet?" Fang asked, ignoring Star. He had learned through the days which he had spent with Star, that she was a moody type of person when she was hungry.

"There's a sound of leaves crunching every few seconds at the back of us. Dude, it's like, as if something is jumping around. Weird right?"

Instantly Fang's senses flared up.

"Does it sound like a robot or a mutant?"

"Could be both. Maybe some crazy scientists created a human-frog hybrid or something. Or it's robot with a spring instead of legs. I don't know, what does it matter anyway?"

"Because fighting a robot is different to fighting a mutant," Fang automatically answered.

And for the first time which he had met them, Fang's entire "Flock" fell silent.

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><p>The next day, after camping out in the forest, Fang and his gang continued hiking in the forest. Maya assumed her role flying above the thick foliage, watching out for any airborne attackers. Star had run ahead, scouting for any hidden ambushers.<p>

Fang stepped over a branch and occasionally ran his fingers over the leaves or bark as the passed him. It wasn't a bad place to live in, the forest. There were no curious scientists who wanted to take Fang apart and put him back together again. There were no bloodthirsty mutants who wanted to kill him and dance over his bones. There were no freaking humans who Fang had to hide his wings from. And last but not least, there were no artificial human creations hovering about. Only Mother Nature and her wonders.

Unconsciously, Fang sighed.

"Tired are we?" Kate recognized, smiling.

"I just want to- Ooft!" Fang stumbled back as something large and heavy crashed into him.

Immediately Fang launched himself back up and changed into fighting position, facing at his attacker... only to find that it was a frantic Star who must have ran back.

"Sorry about that, I had to get back here quick," she apologised whipping her hair back into its normal position since it had fallen out when she crashed into Fang.

"I had to tell you, there's a group of... _something_ hopping right this way."

"Did you say _hopping_?" Holden gasped. Star shot him a furious look.

"Yes, idiot. I said 'hopping'," she said. "Anyways, I think that it was a mutant which the scientists have sent this way."

Ratchet through his hands up in the air. "Can't those guys cut us a break? I hate being stalked and attacked every five seconds," he complained.

"Welcome to real life," Star replied sarcastically.

"How many are there?" Fang asked, trying to avoid another argument.

"About six of them."

"Good one for each of us," Fang said confidently, "Kate, get Maya to come down here. If there's an enemy to fight, then we'd better fight it together."

Why was Fang telling Kate to call for Maya? Because Kate was the only person who could run up to a tree and shake it enough to get the attention of someone flying above.

Pretty soon, everyone was ready and tensed for a fight. From what Star had told them, the mutants could jump/hop really far and their legs were extremely muscular and could kick nastily. But she couldn't make out what animal their DNA was split with.

But after about fifteen minutes, Ratchet started grumbling, "Yo Fang, this is stupid. Nothing but stupid mossies has attacked us." To prove his point, he swatted a mosquito which landed onto his shoulder.

"He who knows patience knows peace," Kate quoted softly.

"That's not true. I've been patient and the only peace which I have is the peace of–"

"Of what?" Star asked crossly.

Slowly, as if his life depended on it, Ratchet raised a finger to his lips. Then he pointed to the trees in his right.

In a blur, Star ran towards the direction which Ratchet pointed to, scattering leaves in her wake.

Before anyone could even register what had happened, Star came out just as quickly, with her head in the grip of a huge sandy coloured Eraser.

Kate ran up to the mutant and punched it in the lower back of the spine.

"Aroooo!" The Eraser howled and back kicked Kate in the stomach and sent her flying into a tree.

Adrenaline surged into Fang's veins and he jumped into the air and brought both of his hands into the Eraser's shoulders. There was a sickening crack of breaking bones and the Eraser released its hold on Star. The blond crumpled to the forest floor.

Fang kicked the area where Kate had punched and the Eraser's spine snapped in half.

Meanwhile, Holden and Maya were busy trying to bring down another mutant. The top half was of an ordinary brown haired boy but the bottom half was totally different. He definitely had large legs but there was also a thick reddish brown tail which ended in a black tip. It looked like a hideous version of a satyr.

Fang had no idea what animal the mutant was supposed to mixed with but frankly, he didn't care. The only which was on his mind was killing it.

Kate was back on her feet and she was wrestling a mutant with feathers instead of hair. Fang half-flew and half-ran to her aid.

He curled his hand into a fist and brought it into the feathery temple of the mutant. It was taken by surprise and stumbled back while Kate boxed its ears.

Then, without warning, just as it was going to lose consciousness, the mutant extended its wings. Brown wings flecked with white spots unfolded from its back and the mutant took to the skies.

Kate gaped at it from the ground.

_That must explain the feathered head_, Fang mused as he followed the mutant.

With his own ebony wings, Fang manoeuvred himself though the canopy of the forest and flew out of the forest.

The mutant was waiting at the top and it grinned insanely at the sight of Fang's wings. It speeded towards Fang and aimed a kick at his ribs.

Fang banked to the side and the kick sailed harmlessly past him. Fang seized the fabric mutant's trouser and used its momentum to toss it away.

It flapped its wings frantically, reminding Fang of Erasers which had wings grafted onto them. But the mutant to be proved more advanced at flying than Erasers.

It came soaring back at Fang and tried to punch him. This time, Fang drew a knife from his sleeve and slashed at the creature.

Fang kept a knife for everyday activities such as skinning a rabbit for lunch, cutting up vegetables etc.

Right now, Fang was going to use it to wound the mutant. He was inexperienced with a weapon having been taught only street fighting but Fang managed to sever a piece of the mutant's shirt and trousers and make a gash into the skin.

But what Fang saw underneath made him want to gag.

The flying mutant had scaly bird legs. Coming out of the skin of the leg was dull yellow scales which looked completely out of place.

"What had those scientists done to you?" Fang hissed in disgust.

Filled with new found hatred for the scientists which had created himself and this mutant, Fang brought a fist upwards onto the chin of the mutant, and it finally got knocked out. It plunged downwards and hit the ground like a sack of bones.

After a long pause, Fang flew down to see the state of his friends.

He came down to see that three more mutants had come back his gang was able to handle them.

Maya had a bloody nose, Holden had broken his left arm but was rapidly healing, Ratchet had a claw mark across his cheek and he walked with a limp, and Kate looked fine as far as Fang could see. And Star... she was interrogating the Eraser which had attacked her at the beginning.

"Where did you come from? Who created you? What is the One Light?" She yelled into the mutant's fuzzy wolf ear. Star clutched the shirt of the mutant and shook it hard.

"Star, let me handle this," Fang ordered.

He calmly walked up to the Eraser who was leaning heavily against a tree.

"Look here Eraser–"

"I'm not an Eraser." The mutant sneered.

"Shut up!" Star glowered. But Fang's black eyes widened slightly. The Eras–mutant, was not part-wolf, it was something else canine.

It licked its lips before rasping, "I'm dingo."

"I don't care. Tell me where the head quarters of the One Light are," Fang said flatly.

"You're so lucky," the dingo-thing answered. "I wished that I was as lucky as you."

"What are you talking about?" Fang's eyes narrowed. "Do you really think that I'm lucky? I don't even have a family, a proper family with parents and siblings. I never got any of that!"

"But you secretly hope that one day you can meet your family."

"Liar! What would you know? You spent your whole life being trained to kill," Fang snarled, the mutant had stuck a sensitive nerve.

"I had no choice. I may be a killing machine, but that doesn't mean that I have feelings too. I always wanted a family. A proper family with parents and siblings." The mutant echoed Fang, its glassy eyes fixed on him.

Then, the mutant whispered, "You are so very lucky that you have enough hope to hope for your very own family."

With that last statement, it was conquered by death and the mutant's heart stopped beating.

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><p><strong>Oooh, creepy huh?<strong>

**Wow, writing from Fang's POV was harder than I thought.**

**Please read and review! Tell me what you think! The more reviews I have, the faster I'll write the next chapter! **

**~Wolfmilk~**


	3. Flying, sleeping and stealing?

**Iggy: A Maximum Ride Novel**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognise. Maximum Ride belongs to James Patterson. Nuff said.**

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><p>We finally were up and flying again. It took a great deal of convincing to make Iggy and Gazzy leave the cruise ship and continue on our trip. They were too busy pigging out in the ship's kitchen.<p>

"Ah, I'm so full that I can hardly fly," Gazzy remarked, patting his belly contentedly as he glided lazily above the ocean.

"Nuh uh, you can hardly fly because you're so fat!" Iggy called out.

"Excuse me?" Gazzy exclaimed, pretending to be insulted. He dramatically laid a hand into his heart, stopped flying and plummeted down into the dark ocean below.

"See? I just proved my point. Gazzy is so fat that he can't even fly," Iggy stated, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Hey! I heard that!" Gazzy yelled as he came rocketing back up into the sky. He pushed Iggy playfully.

"Gazzy is fat. Gazzy is fat. Gazzy is faaa-at," Iggy repeated in an annoying singsong voice.

Nudge rolled her eyes at the pair and muttered, "Boys."

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><p>By the time my flock had reached the coast of America, the night had fallen. Despite our little rest in the cruise ship, my flock and I were tired.<p>

"C'mon guys, lets climb onto a tree and get some beauty sleep," I mumbled. I chose an extra large elm tree in a secluded park to rest in and waited for my flock to settle down.

"I can't believe we flew across the North Atlantic Ocean for a whole day," Iggy groaned as he lent onto a tree branch.

Nudge disagreed, "Not really, we took a break for, like, two hours."

"Still tired," Iggy yawned and stretched out his pale wings. Gazzy moved closer to Iggy and snuggled against one of Iggy's wings.

"Naaaw, they look so cute together," Nudge crooned.

Waving a hand dismissively, Gazzy sat forward. "Let's do our hand thingo," he reminded us.

Iggy thrust out his hand and together, we all put our hands on top of each others.

Dylan looked around. "I'll take first watch," he volunteered.

"Fine with me," I muttered before falling asleep.

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><p>I woke up early the next day, at the crack of dawn. My eyes quickly scanned my flock to see if they're still here and alive. What can I say? Our list of enemies is continually growing and I can never be too sure about our safety.<p>

All of my flock were still asleep and I smirked mischievously. I'm going have fun waking up everyone. Sleeping on a neighbouring tree branch, Dylan was closest to me. As quietly as I could, I slowly crawled towards him. He was a quiet sleeper, unlike the others who were snoring their heads off. I snapped a long stick an overhanging branch and I preceded to poke Dylan awake as hard as I could.

Poor guy, he was so busy flying and keeping watch the previous day that he was too tired to bother getting into a comfortable position in his sleep. Dylan's arms and legs were sprawled out and I thought that he looked less like a super model boy in his sleep and more like typical lazy teenager.

A sudden realisation stopped me and I dropped the stick I was holding. Dylan was _supposed_ to be keeping watch. I looked at the rest of my flock, none of them seemed to be watching. The idiot had fallen asleep while on watch without waking someone else to take over the job. I glared at the sleeping figure furiously.

"You were supposed to be keeping watch!" I spat into his ear, rage building up. Dylan eyes fluttered open and he looked at me groggily.

"Hmm... little kid... wanted to... watch," he muttered incomprehensively.

"What did you say?" I hissed. Once again, I looked at my flock, they all seemed sleeping. Or did they? Gazzy looked suspiciously like he was on watch. At first glance he looked like he was sleeping because he was lying down and Total was lying on top of him. I sighed and clambered towards him. Gazzy wasn't someone who would eagerly volunteer to stay up just to watch.

I approached Gazzy's still figure. Now that I'm up close, I could tell that he was awake. I pause for a second, seeing Gazzy lift Total from his chest and cuddle him like the way Angel used to cuddle Celeste.

"I miss Angel, Total," he sniffed, rubbing his face.

What that heck? Gazzy was crying? How did this happen? I knew as a fact that none of the flock cries unless something devastating happens, such as Fang dying or something. Then again, someone _did_ pass away. But why was Gazzy telling Total this?

I watched the pair closely, feeling like a stalker. Gazzy clutched Total tightly and I once again wondered if this was the Total I knew because the dog didn't protest even when it was obvious that it was painful to the held that way.

"I miss her too," Total murmured to Gazzy. Then, he shook himself free from Gazzy grasp, and did something that I would have never anticipated.

Total licked Gazzy's tears away.

That's right. Total, the talking, flying and intelligent dog, reached up to Gazzy, and licked his tears. I thought that I was going to fell out of the tree because what had just happened was just plain freaky. I mean, I've read somewhere on the internet that dogs sometimes lick their owner's tears either as a gesture of affection or a hunger for salt. But Total was no ordinary dog.

_He's sad. _The Voice stated unnecessarily._ And so am I. Thanks for that piece of wisdom, Caption Obvious. _I thought. _No you're not, _the Voice replied.

"SHUT UP!" I yelled out loud, enraged.

Gazzy and Total both looked up at me, startled at my outburst.

"What?" They both said at the same time.

"Never mind."

My little shout had woken up the entire Flock.

"Who's attacking?" Nudge mumbled sleepily.

"No one. Now come on, we have a big flight today!" I tried to sound cheerful.

"I wanna go back to sleep, Maxee..." Nudge rubbed her eyes.

I slapped Nudge across the face. Yes, I know, I'm mean.

"Don't call me that ever again," I snarled, glaring into Nudge's shocked but wide awake face.

I jumped off the tree and didn't wait for the rest of my follow me. Extending my wings, I jumped into the air and started flying westward, towards the School.

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><p>Two hours later, we flew non-stop and my lazy Flock was getting tired again. Iggy had passed a couple of chocolate bars around while we were flying but it hadn't sustained us for long.<p>

"Max! I want food," Total sighed unhappily.

"Fine, let's go dig around in the garbage cans for lunch," I decided.

We stopped by a large city in Kansas and all dug the trash for some food scraps. I found a few half eaten sandwiches but aside from that, there wasn't anything edible we could find.

"Total, make yourself useful and find us some food," I ordered. "Dogs are supposed to have good noses."

Total, who was lounging about waiting for us to find something for him, glanced up at me.

"I can't smell anything," he told me accusingly.

I knew he was lying. There had to be food somewhere in the city. Total just didn't want his fur dirty with rubbish.

"Puh-lease," I sneered. Without warning, I picked up Total around the belly, not caring if it hurts him.

"Hey! Put me down!" Total yelped, squirming in my grasp. He reached around, trying to bite my hands.

I ignored him and threw him into the dumpster.

"How dare you!" Total cried indignantly, trying to shake off pieces of plastic which clung onto his fur.

"You had it coming," I laughed. The sight of the little dog's expression just cracked me up.

"Max, that was just..." Dylan said, trying to find the right words.

I just laughed harder, Nudge joining in with me.

"Total, your expression was just priceless!" She giggled.

"I'm still hungry," Iggy moaned.

Total scrambled out of the dumpster.

"I still didn't find anything," he reported, trying to gather back his pride.

"Let's go steal something then," Gazzy suggested.

"What?" Dylan exclaimed, apparently shocked to hear such a crime.

"But then we'll be noticed," Nudge argued.

"Who hears? I'm hungry," Iggy said.

Gazzy didn't wait for an answer, he ran up to the nearest fast food restaurant and apparently was walking around, looking for something.

"I don't like stealing but it's necessary," Gazzy said, coming back.

"You didn't steal anything," Dylan said, glancing at the younger boy's empty hands.

Gazzy beamed, proud of himself. "Good, if that's what you think."

"Wait a minute..." I spoke slowly. I slid my hands into Gazzy's pockets and found a watch, a mobile phone, a pocket knife and a couple of coins.

"You're a pickpocketer!" Dylan accused, seeing what Gazzy had stolen.

"I didn't steal food. I stole stuff from people's purses and pockets." Gazzy explained, taking back the stolen goodies from my hands.

"Since I got them, I'm spending them for myself only."

"That's not fair!" Nudge cried angrily.

"Life's not fair," Gazzy dismissed. "You could steal something if you really want to eat."

Call me a bad parent, but I was actually proud of Gazzy.

"It's really easy, just put your hand into a purse or whatever, and take what's inside out," he continued.

Nudge countered, "Easy for you maybe, you're good with your hands since you make bombs all the time... What is Total doing?"

I followed her gaze to see Total begging for scraps from a plump old woman.

"He's acting like a real dog," I whispered, surprised as the lady gave in to Total's puppy dog eyes and she threw him a sausage which he caught neatly with his jaws.

"Talk about keeping his pride," Iggy muttered, once Dylan had told him what had happened.

"Max? Can I go to the store?" Gazzy asked innocently.

"Sure thing."

"Thanks Max! You're the best!" Gazzy excitedly skipped away.

Dylan watched me curiously.

"What? Do I have something in my teeth?" I asked him.

"Don't you mind that he is a thief?"

"'Course not!"

"Well, I'm going to _earn_ some money," Nudge said, aghast at me. She brushed past me and walked onto the street. Nudge bent down and stretched her arms out. Then, she closed her eyes.

"Er Nudge? What are you doing?" Total questioned, uncertainty rising up.

As if on cue, dozens of coins began rolling towards Nudge's open palms. It was one of the strangest things which I had ever seen, which is saying a lot, since I had witnessed all the sick twisted things which Whitecoats had made, back in the lab. A mixture of pennies, dimes and nickels rolled towards the girl like a brown trickling stream of water. I was quite surprised that onlookers didn't notice the coins. I shrugged. Maybe it was normal to see strange things like this, in the street.

Nudge's eyes fluttered open. "I'm done!" She squealed, triumphantly.

"How did you do that?" Total demanded.

"I can attract metal, duh!"

"Of course, silly me."

* * *

><p><strong>Tsk, tsk, tsk, the Flock really are a naughty bunch of birdkids. They are stealing! Of course, by writing this chapter, I don't mean to promote stealing. The Flock is just pretty deserate, that's all. XD<strong>

**Just a heads up to anybody who is currently reading this. I'll be on holiday from Dec 20 to Jan 20 and cut off from internet and computers so I won't be able to update and post any chapters up in that time period. **

**Don't worry, I'll still be writing in my notebook whenever possible.**

**Sorry guys!**

**~Wolfmilk~**

**Please read and review! The more reviews I have, the faster I'll write the next chapter! **


	4. A game of cat and mouse

**Iggy: A Maximum Ride Novel**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognise. Maximum Ride belongs to James Patterson. Nuff said. **

* * *

><p>Iggy felt like a loser. While everyone else was stealingearning/begging for money and food, he was standing and not doing anything. Iggy sighed. He wished that he could see so that he could join in the fun with the others.

_I bet that I can nick a few coins from people too._ Iggy thought to himself. _If only I wasn't blind._

Then, he shook his head slightly. Stop that.

Iggy had learnt at the tender age of 6 that hoping for miracles to occur was a waste of time. And getting his sight back was a miracle.

Iggy rustled his wings slightly. Tucking his wings in really tight was beginning to hurt. Iggy would never admit it, but he was actually more sensitive to pain than the others were–meaning that when an Eraser or some other crazy mutant punched him, it hurt dearly. And plus, Iggy was really ticklish. Just another downside of being blind.

"Ughhh..." Iggy groaned dramatically. He was starting to get really hungry.

"What is it? Someone stabbed you or something?" Max asked with a hint of concern in her voice. Iggy felt her take hold of his wrist and jerk it to the side, none too gently.

"Careful woman," Iggy muttered. He jerked his hand back and glared in Max's general direction. "It's worse than being stabbed... I'm hungry!"

"Ohh, ohh, ahh... I think I'm going to faint from starvation... the pain... the horror..." Iggy dramatically laid a hand on his forehand.

"Is he okay?" Dylan asked, oblivious to the high amount of sarcasm in Iggy's voice.

"No... no... everything is spinning... and going black." Iggy dropped onto his knees. "I'm fainting!" He yelled and then he fell into the concrete floor, pretending to be conscious.

"Get up, you drama queen," Max commanded, poking Iggy with her sneaker.

Iggy wrinkled his nose. Max's sneaker didn't smell that good.

"Can't. I'm too hungry." Iggy moaned, struggling not to smirk. It must have been a sight for any passing people. A male teen lying face down on the floor next to a pile of garbage, while being ordered and poked by a girl.

"Oh come on," Max growled. For a second, Iggy didn't hear anything and he wondered what was happening. Suddenly, he felt an old sandwich being stuffed into his mouth.

"Ufff, off," Iggy sat up instantly, or tried to anyway. Apparently, Max was intent on feeding him. She pinned him down to the floor and shoved sandwiches into his mouth.

"You want food? Fine! Here's your food!"

A different voice entered this scene. "Max, you're choking him," Dylan observed.

Iggy flailed around like a fish, his arms and legs, flinging and kicking around uselessly. _This really hurts!_ Iggy screamed in his mind. His mouth was full of the three sandwiches which had been shoved in viciously.

Max stood up and Iggy coughed out pieces of bread.

"You're a violent aggressive torturer!" Iggy accused, standing up.

"You had it coming!" Iggy could hear Max's ragged breathing.

It was true. Iggy really had been testing Max's temper by being stubborn. But at least Iggy wasn't too hungry anymore. The sandwiches didn't actually taste that bad.

"You hurt?" Max said with a total change of tone. Iggy smirked, Max may be a violent aggressive torturer, but she was a violent aggressive torturer who cared about her flock.

"No. I just got a zillion sandwiches shoved into my mouth all at once. I feel fine, really."

"I'm rolling my eyes, Iggy."

* * *

><p>Three hours later, the Flock had finally crossed the border of California and was getting closer to the School. Iggy could tell that the Flock was tensing up are getting ready to smuggle Ella out of the building. He could hear the slight change of breathing in Max and Nudge, for once, was not talking.<p>

"Are we there yet?" Iggy asked, he too was anticipating his reunion with his girlfr- his best friend. It had been too long since he had felt Ella's hands entwined with his, the fragrant smell of her perfume, and the music of her laughter whenever he cracked a joke.

"Guys?" Iggy asked again, suddenly worried at the Flock's lack of response.

After a few minutes, he heard the voice, barely a whisper, of Nudge. "Iggy..." She began but trailed off, panic evident in her voice.

"What is it? What do you see?" Iggy raised his voice. Something wasn't right.

When he got no answer, Iggy spun around and groped out to take a grip on someone's wing. He found his grip on Gazzy's feathers and clamped on tight, digging his fingernails in painfully. But Gazzy didn't even mutter a word of protest. Something was very wrong.

"What do you see? Gazzy!" Iggy said, his voice raising to a shout.

No response. Apparently, Gazzy was too shocked to say anything. Infuriated, Iggy yanked Gazzy's wing back and took hold of the boy's shoulders, wings synchronising.

"TELL ME!"

"The School..." Gazzy muttered. Iggy shook Gazzy's shoulders hard, urging him to continue.

"...it's not..."

"The School has been burnt to the ground," Max said for him, with a steely voice.

Suddenly, the sharp smell of burning ash and rubble hit Iggy.

With a voice, impossibly soft, Iggy asked, "Care to elaborate on that?"

"The building. It's completely destroyed. It seems that there are no survivors."

Iggy released Gazzy from his grasp and the nine-year-old boy flew backwards, out of reach.

"How on Earth did this happen?"

"I think... I think that the Whitecoats from the School was over thrown by its own creations. I can see that there was some sort of battle between mutants and scientists. Mutants won. No survivors."

A minute was all it took for Iggy to digest this information.

"What about Ella? Do you see her?"

"All I can see are Whitecoats' b-" Max stopped herself in midsentence but Iggy knew what she was going to say. Whitecoats' bodies. For once, Iggy was glad that he was blind so that he wouldn't be able to see the horrible scene below him.

The Flock circled the wreckage before landing softly in front of what used to be the main entrance of the School. Iggy bore no love for the people who had created him but he could feel that this was utterly wrong.

"Is there anything to find?"

"There's nothing of use to us here."

Nudge. "Except for that computer over there." She must have pointed to something because everyone was heading in the same direction. "There's a computer buried under the remains of some rubble but I think that it might still work. From what I can see, it has a few broken wires but I think that Gazzy might be able to fix it."

"What make you think that I can fix a computer? Unless you want me to turn it into a bomb?" Gazzy asked.

"Come on, Gazzy, you're brilliant with any type of electronics."

"That's true..." Gazzy said, obviously proud of himself. "...Nudge!"

Iggy heard the scuffling of Nudge pulling Gazzy away.

Iggy was about to follow but Max halted him.

"No Iggy. There's too much junk on the floor. You'll trip before you can even walk through the debris."

Iggy opened his mouth in protest but Max stopped him.

"There's nothing much to see anyway."

_You mean nothing humane to see_, Iggy thought bitterly. But for once, he held his tongue and stayed behind.

Grumbling, Iggy plopped himself down to the ground. The only good thing about being left behind was that Iggy had time to arrange his thoughts.

_So a couple of mutants started fighting back. Why couldn't the scientists stop them? _Iggy remembered when he was still being tested and confined to the School, there was always at least one mutant which had gone wild and tried to escape.

_-Flash back-_

Iggy lay still on a white polished table. His heart was beating rapidly and his breath came in short puffs. To his right, there was a drip with a needle stuck in Iggy's forearm. Metal braces chained him to the table, making any escape impossible.

A Whitecoat towered over Iggy and was experimenting with Iggy's reactions with different chemicals.

"Now, let's see if it would survive this shot," the Whitecoat muttered to himself.

I'm not an 'it'! Iggy thought angrily and struggled vainly against his bonds as a painful needle was jabbed into his arm.

Just as Iggy was bracing himself for the shot to take effect, a loud siren started wailing, signalling the escape of an experiment.

The cacophony of sound which rang in Iggy's ears and if he wasn't cuffed, then he would have firmly clamped his hands over his ears. Instead, the best Iggy could do was shut his eyes tightly and bite onto the side of lip in an attempt to block out the sound.

The Whitecoat, however, reacted differently. He ran out of the lab and locked the door behind him. Iggy couldn't remember what happened afterwards much, all he could register was that there were horrible animal sounds coming from the outside, mixed with the shouts and orders from the Whitecoats. And Iggy wondered for a moment how a mutant had managed to escape their tormentors.

_-End Flashback-_

After what seemed like eternity, Max and others had come back. He heard the hard footsteps of four kids and one dog. Iggy stood up and looked expectantly at the others.

"Well? Find anything good?" He demanded, still hurt from being left out.

"In fact, we did," Nudge answered smoothly. "It took a bit of hacking but I found out that Ella indeed did come to the School..." Iggy inhaled sharply. "...but she was transferred to a different faculty for other experiments."

"Which means that Ella wasn't here when the building was burnt down," Dylan added.

"Did you find out if there were any experiments made on her?"

"The computer file didn't say anything about that so we can't be sure if she had gone any experiments."

"But no news is good news, right?" Total asked.

"I hope so. That's the reason why Ella was transfered to another faculty."

Iggy asked the question which burned in his mind. "Are where, exactly, is this new faculty?"

Nudge took a deep breath. "According to the computer... it's China."

**Yay! A chapter full of Iggy POV. I'm so sorry for the month delay on this chapter but my computer had broken down again and there was no way I could upload my chapter until it was fixed. **

**I know it seems that I am just having excuses after excuses but putting my best effort into this fic.**

**Thank you for being so patient.**

**Please read and review! Your reviews give me inspiration to continue my fic! **

**Next chapter coming up: Fang's gang go to an unexpected place.**

**~Wolfmilk~**


	5. Down in the outback

**Iggy: A Maximum Ride Novel**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognise. Maximum Ride belongs to James Patterson. Nuff said. **

* * *

><p><p>

"Well that went well," Star said, staring at the body in disgust.

Fang stood up and wiped blood from his face. His gang was standing in a half-circle around him, waiting for orders.

"Ratchet? Can you still hear the conversation?"

Ratchet shook his head. "Nope, lost all trace of it when we were fighting."

"Then where are we going to go now? We're lost in the middle of a forest, for crying out loud!" Star exclaimed angrily.

"Nuh uh. I can see the edge of the forest from here," Ratchet announced proudly.

"Even so, we are we supposed to go after that, huh?"

"How am I supposed to know?"

"You're the one with laser vision and super hearing!"

"Oh yeah, sure. I'll just fry you up with my "laser" vision."

"I'd like to see you try!"

Before the argument could get any worse, Kate stepped in. "People! Can you just stop arguing for once and actually try to think?" Star and Ratchet both stopped and stared at her. "What do the mutants all have in common?"

Maya had a bloody nose, Holden had broken his left arm but was rapidly healing, Ratchet had a claw mark across his cheek and he walked with a limp, and Kate looked fine as far as Fang could see. And Star... she was interrogating the Eraser which had attacked her at the beginning.

Holden frowned, deep in thought. "They all look... disgusting?" He suggested.

Kate sighed and rolled her eyes. "They were combined with a certain type of animal. Animals only found in one place."

"Kate, I don't think we could even tell what animals they were combined with," Fang said slowly.

"Let me borrow your laptop," Kate asked.

It was a strange request but Fang drew his laptop from the bag he was carrying and handed it to the girl. Kate switched it on and tinkered around with it. Confused of what was happening, everyone else gathered around her.

A moment later, Kate turned the laptop around and gave it back to Fang who stared at the screen.

"Does this remind you of anything?"

On his laptop, there were images of a kookaburra, kangaroo, dingo and some other various animals which Fang couldn't identify. Frowning, he looked from the screen to Kate, and to the screen again. Then, it hit him. The DNA of the mutants who had attacked them were spliced with these animals' DNA. And these animals came from only one place in the world. Australia.

"Oh. My. Freaking. Gosh. These animals are from _Australia_?" Star exclaimed. "That's on the other side of the world!"

"Yeah, what's your point?" Ratchet drawled.

"We'll have to go there, duh! We have to know who had created them 'cause they had obviously wanted to kill us."

"Whoa, who said that we were going to the place where people want to kill us?"

Irritated by the two bickering again, Fang decided just to ignore them and turned to the rest of his gang.

"Since we lost the trail which we were heading in before, we might as well try to follow this one. The problem is, I have no idea how to get there."

"I do. We're in Italy and I have connections with people here," Star announced.

* * *

><p><em>Yo,<em>

_Sometimes I forget that Star came from a Catholic school. And that she also came from a rich family, like one of the rich _rich_ families – the type that can afford mansions and stuff. Star's family has some relations in Italy who own a plane company. At this moment, me and my pals are flying to Australia on one of those private planes._

_I can't tell you why we're going down to the other side of the world, but I _can_ tell you we're gonna be kicking some Whitecoat and mutant butt while we're there. Trouble always seems to be following us..._

_Fly on,_

_Fang_

It was midday by the time Fang and his friends have arrived in Australia. Everyone had jetlag and Fang could feel that there were bags under his eyes. The moment Fang had stepped off the plane, a rush of dry hot air whipped into his face. He gasped at the change of weather before motioning the others to follow him. Holden had come out last and was clutching his stomach in pain.

Grimacing, he pushed past the others muttering, "I don't feel too well... That aeroplane food... Think I'm going to be sick." The lanky boy had just stumbled onto a patch of grass, before doubling over and empting the contents of his stomach.

"Ewww," Star said, wrinkling her nose in disgust. Kate had sprinted over to Holden and was trying to help him. Fang had waited with Maya and Ratchet before realising that as a leader, he should go help too.

Holden looked up as Fang approached. He saw that Kate had wiped off most of the vomit off his face with a paper towel. _Wow, Kate was so nice_, he thought. Feeling awkward, Fang asked if Holden was alright. Nodding wearily, Holden explained, "Believe it or not, I have a weak stomach."

"I had us booked a hotel room here somewhere," Star said, taking hold of Fang's wrist and dragging him away. Star lead the way towards a five-star hotel in the city. Apparently, she had already been to Australia once or twice and had memorised that routes around.

Once they had reached that hotel, Ratchet had collapsed onto the king-sized bed. Fang dumped himself onto another bed next to Maya and they discussed their next motives.

"So what do you think we should do now that we're here?" Maya whispered.

"I think that we should see if Ratchet could pick anything up again. I remember that Itex had had companies here as well so we'll have a fair chance of finding something One-Light related."

"What do you even think it is?"

"What? The One-Light?" At Maya's affirmative nod, Fang racked his brain of an answer. "I don't know. But seeing how it had affected so much of the world's population, it's probably a huge evil company that wants control of the world. You know, typical evil villain stuff."

"But if it's so big, how come we know next to nothing about it?"

Fang shrugged, that very question had been bugging him throughout the plane trip. Maya stood up and brought Fang's laptop over.

"How's your blog? Got any more Fang fans?"

Fang sighed and give a slight shake of his head. "Apparently what we're doing isn't interesting enough."

"Well, what a shame, I'm sure that all they want to hear all about our fighting and mystery solving skills," Maya drawled sarcastically, eyes flashing.

Fang leant against Maya slightly as she was seated next to him and he could breathe in the scent of dirt and dust which always accompanied her. She smelt a lot like Max. Even their sense of hygiene was the same.

"Fang? Hello? Earth to Fang!" Maya said, taking hold of Fang's shoulder.

"Stop it. I'm listening to you," Fang murmured. Maya's hand felt warm on his shoulder and he leant to towards the touch. Rolling her eyes, Maya gave Fang an extra hard shake before removing her hand. She returned to the laptop and checked Fang's blog, fingers swiftly sliding and tapping on the keyboard.

"What are you doing?" Fang asked and leant over to get a better view of the screen.

Maya was scrolling through his fans' comments.

_Comment by Hippie45__ at 6:21pm_

_Dear Fang,_

_You're always rushing around, trying to fight others, finding safe hiding spots, solving big mysteries... you never settle down to enjoy life as it is. I mean, look at yourself! You have wings! Can't you just relax a bit and take a long soothing flight?_

_Comment by R0mmi at 7:37pm_

_thanks for telling me your whereabouts. now i can track you down. i'm gonna rip your wings off and teach you a new meaning of pain..._

_Comment by B377a at 10:52pm_

_OMG1!1! LOL I CAN'T B3LIV TAHT U R COMNG 2 AUSTRALIA!1! THER3'S WH3RE I LIEV111! OMG1!_

_Comment by Javes at 1:49am_

_Fang, you're so lucky that you have wings. I give anything to have a nice pair of wings. There's nothing I'd want more than to fly. Heck, I'd willingly trade my right arm for even a moment of flying. You are so lucky to be a birdkid._

Maya raised an eyebrow.

"You have weird fans. You know that?"

Shrugging, Fang turned on the TV and lay on his stomach, listening to Maya with only a half an ear.

"Don't you think that it's kind of risky posting everything we do on the internet?"

Fang shrugged again.

"There's a chance that the One Light organisation can track us down," Maya whispered, referring to the comments before.

Sighing heavily, Fang tore his eyes of the TV screen and met Maya's concerned brown ones.

"Those comments always pop up around the blog. I've tried to delete them all but there's too many. Just ignore them. They were probably posted by some attention seeking kud. Don't stress yourself over them, okay?" Fang reassured her.

"I don't know. I have a bad feeling about this," she muttered. After scrolling to the bottom the page, Maya stoped and her eyes wandered around the screen.

Looking up at Maya's pause, Fang asked, "Done yet? I don't want the battery to run out."

"Fang... since when did you allow advertisements on your blog?" Maya questioned slowly, not taking her eyes off the screen.

"I didn't. Why?" Fang sat up and took his laptop from Maya. He stopped halfway and gave a small cry of surprise.

An advertisement had covered up the whole screen and in large flashing font, there were the words: "GENETICALLY MODIFIED HUMAN ANIMAL HYBRIDS EXHIBITION. Exhibiting in the Ranski Museum of Science and Technology. Don't miss out!"

* * *

><p><p>

**Thank you for being so patient.**

**Please read and review! Your reviews give me inspiration to continue my fic! **

**Next chapter coming up: Our favorite Flock goes to China and Max makes new friends... **grudgingly.****

**~Wolfmilk~**


	6. We love you Iggy

**Iggy: A Maximum Ride Novel**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognise. Maximum Ride belongs to James Patterson. Nuff said. **

**Warning: This chapter can get a little antsy.**

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><p><strong>Max's POV<strong>

Today was a great day for me. I had made my Flock fly all the way from France to America for nothing. Where my half sister was supposed to be, was a pile of smoking garbage. Not only had I found out that she had been moved, but I had also found out that she had been moved to _China_. Oh joy, what a great day it is. Gee, now we're going to have to fly to China.

Total wasn't a happy chappy when he learnt of this. "Why couldn't she have been moved to somewhere closer?" He whined, ears and tail drooping.

"Because Whitecoats just delight in making our lives a misery," Gazzy told him, as a matter-of-factly.

"So what now? Fly to Asia?" Nudge asked. At my nod, she sighed and opened her wings, ready to fly.

Total yawned. "Guys, do you remember the time when I didn't have wings and you carried me around everywhere?" We all rolled our eyes. How could we not remember that? Although Total was pretty light, it was still pretty darn tiring to be carrying him.

"Can you carry me again?" Total gave us puppy dog eyes. "I'm tired." To empathise this, the dog gave an enormous yawn which looked so fake that I had to bite my lip to stop myself from laughing. There is no way anyone would fall for that...

"Oh Total! You're so cuuute!" Nudge squealed. "Of course!" She picked Total up and cuddled him.

I rolled my eyes. Sometimes I forget how "_girly"_ Nudge could be.

"Ouch, careful on the ribs, Nudge," Total grunted for the girl was holding him a bit too tightly. Dylan chuckled at the sight of the pair and I found his laugh kind of soothing. It was at the right pitch for a laugh – not too low yet not too high – and I felt compelled to join in the laughter. The side of my mouth twitched but it stopped there. We were on a mission and there was no time to indulge in petty emotions. My face hardened and I steeled my voice.

"Enough talking lets go," I ordered my Flock coldly. With a flap of my wings, I was up in the air again, flying east. After all, someone needs to keep track of reality, don't they?

* * *

><p>Four hours later, I was pushing my Flock to fly further and further. I was determined to cover the most distance as I could. We had crossed the border of the North America and we were flying fast and steadily. A migrating flock of swallows had crossed our path and it was decided that we would follow within the group. The birds didn't seem to mind the five extra birdkids who had joined their group but they were weary of Total, pecking and scratching him at first until he gave them a sharp bark which made them think twice before trying to hurt the dog.<p>

I could tell that Iggy was uncomfortable, with the loud wing beats and squawking of the birds. It was plain all over his face. His eyes were scrunched up and there were deep frowns on his forehead. Well someone wasn't happy. Some swallows parted way as I banked closer to him to try to lighten up the mood, being the good leader I am.

"Are you taking this okay?" I asked him, raising my voice a little to hear myself over the flapping of the swallows.

"No. You know I hate flying with birds," Iggy growled, his frowns deepening. It was true, I knew my Flock too well.

"C'mon Iggy, lighten up. At least you know where you're going because of the sound the birds are making."

Apparently, that wasn't the right thing to say. Iggy sighed, his eyes looking even glassier than normal.

"Max, can you even _imagine_ what it's like, being blind?" His voice wasn't angry, rather it was disappointed.

"What? Am I missing something?" I snapped. I expected Iggy to snap back but I got the complete opposite. Iggy's expression grew softer it showed the small trace of a smile.

"It's more like, you're _not_ missing something. Make sense?"

Puzzled, I shook my head, knowing he wouldn't be able to see me do it anyway.

Iggy snorted. "Well, I'm sorry if I'm being mysterious but I can't exactly explain myself to someone who won't understand what it's like being me. Being blind wouldn't be much of a problem if I wasn't a mutant because there are still others like me. But being an avian mutant – that's a whole different story."

"Right..."

"Fine. Let me give you an example. Let's say there is bird the size of my hand. And it has hungry eagles after it. Not just one eagle, a whole bunch of 'em." He pointed around at the flock of swallows. "Of course, this bird doesn't want to get eaten but so it is always flying to get away from its predators, i.e. the eagles."

"Iggy, just –"

"Just shut up for a moment okay?" Iggy rubbed his face wearily.

"This bird can easily be out-flown by eagles. Do you think that this bird has any chance of survival? No. It doesn't. And what if this bird is _blind_? Do you think that this bird even knows where it's going? You can't feel anything in air, Max. You can't taste where you're going. You can't hear where you are. You can't smell your destination. Oh Max, you can't use any of your five senses except for your sight when flying."

Iggy moved his eyes towards my general direction. "I'm lost, Max. I have told you a long time ago and I will tell you again. I'm lost. A lost bird with savage eagles after it. There's no chance of survival for me. And I wonder why suicide isn't the right answer for my problems because I'll die anyway."

"Iggy! STOP IT!" I cried, unable to believe my ears. Iggy wants to die? No way! I swooped underneath Iggy and clutched his shoulders as if I was clinging on for dear life. I gave him a hard shake and buried my finger nails into his shoulder blades, not caring if it hurt.

"I don't want you think this way! You are _not_ a lost bird, Iggy. You have me, Gazzy and the rest of the Flock. We are your guide. We won't let you be captured by eagles!" I yelled at Iggy. He blinked but otherwise show no other indication that he had heard me.

"Iggy, you have people who care for you and do not want to see your funeral," I hissed. "I have made an effort to keep you alive ever since we had escaped from the School. All these years, I have cared for you as if you were my own son. Don't let these years go to waste, Iggy." My voice cracked on the last sentence but I suppressed any tears. Crying wouldn't help any situation. I took a deep breath, eased my grip on Iggy and swallowed.

"I thought you knew this Iggy. There are people in this world who... love you. They would happily give away their sight to save you from death." Iggy's eyes were locked onto mine and I looked at him with fierce determination.

"I love you like a son, Iggy."

* * *

><p>I've lost track of how many hours had passed but the sun was beginning to set and there were only a couple of sunlit hours left to spare. I strained my raptor eyes to see if I could catch a glimpse of any land ahead. My wings felt like lead and I knew beyond doubt that my Flock was thoroughly exhausted.<p>

After my ordeal with Iggy, I refused to speak with anyone, roughly pushing them away when they approached me. I still couldn't believe that he would say such things to me. The nerve of that boy! I wanted to strangle him right there and then but of course, that would defeat the purpose of what I wanted.

I just hoped that my words were enough to keep him from giving up on himself. I never really had knack for motivational speech when it came to that. Normally, threats of my kicking their ass was enough for them to do what I wanted.

I never thought that my Flock would have to fly around the world within a week – from Europe to USA to Asia. What an achievement. Ordinary birds wouldn't have been able to make it but we were a birdkids. We were made to survive against all odds.

I shut my eyes for moment, trying to feel like Iggy. Almost instantly, I heard Nudge give a shriek of happiness.

"Land! Oh my gosh! There's land! Land, land, land, land," she sang.

Dylan frowned, the lines ruining his perfect features. "I saw land more than an hour ago."

"Yes, yes, Dylan. We all know about your telescope eye sight," Total said, waving his paw dismissively.

Eyes snapping open, I stared long and hard in the distance before realising that Nudge was correct. Not that I doubted her but I needed to be a hundred and ten percent sure that we were at last heading towards land. With a smile reaching my eyes, I turned towards my Flock and gave them a thumbs up, showing my confirmation.

In our last fifteen minutes of flying, everyone flew like jet planes and insanely happy grins were plastered all over our faces. Fatigue was really getting to us, making us go crazy like that.

I beat my wings furiously like there was no tomorrow and crash landed headfirst on to the beach. Dylan came second but his landing was a little more civilised than mine. He instead, landed in the water, and it splashed everywhere, soaking me completely. I welcomed the cool feel of the water though. As disgusting as it may sound, I was sticky with sweat and wasn't surprised if me sweat was dripping while I had been flying.

"Ohhhh," I sighed in pleasure and rested my wings on the grainy sand of the beach. It was great to finally rest on something. But I barely registered the fact that there were shouts coming from my Flock beside me. Probably happy to be on land again, I mused. Suddenly, my thoughts were cut short with a heavy metal net being draped over me.

"What the heck!" I shouted in exclamation and used my mutant strength to throw the net away from me. Instantly, I whirled around wildly, trying to find my attacker. I was still exhausted after flying and only short bursts of adrenaline raced through me.

A dart was shot out of nowhere and embedded itself onto my shoulder. Immediately, I felt woozy and knew too well that it was a tranquilising dart. I had enough sense to pluck the stinging dart out but five more had replaced it.

The only thing I remember before blacking out were the cries of my Flock mingled with the shouts of men barking orders in some language I couldn't register.

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><p><strong>Okay, I'm getting really behind schedule but school keeps on throwing assignments and assessments at me.<strong>

**So Iggy got a little too emo in this chapter and hopefully Max had slapped some sense into him.**

**I didn't have room to end the "big scene" of Max and her friends yet but it will be there in the next chapter.**

**Thank you so much for the nice reviews. I **_**am**_** reading them.**

**Please please please review! Just a few words in a review is enough to brighten up my day. **

**Thanks again.**

**Next chapter coming up: Max wakes up in a place both horribly familiar and awfully foreign.**

**~Wolfmilk~**


	7. Annoying a Whitecoat

**Iggy: A Maximum Ride Novel**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognise. Maximum Ride belongs to James Patterson. Nuff said. **

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><p><strong>Max POV<strong>

Darkness. The smell of antiseptic. The sound of surgical tools. The pain of needles. Must be a nightmare. Am I at the School again?

"Max?" The tentative voice of a young boy whispered.

Eyes snapping open, I sat up instantly, my head colliding with something hard.

"Gazzy!" I shouted, half dazed from the collision.

My eyes were unfocused and blurry but I could make out a faint outline of a blond boy sitting in front of me.

"What happened? Where am I?" I demanded, rubbing a bump in my head. But I knew the answers before the words had left my mouth.

Oh no. This can't be happening. My vision had cleared up and I almost wished that they hadn't. Right in front of me were slender metal bars. There was old newspaper underneath me and I could barely sit up straight. I was back in a dog crate again.

So was Gazzy. His dog crate was placed in front of mine. I could make out five other crates behind him. Gazzy was staring at me with wide scared eyes.

"Is this the School?" He murmured.

"Heck no! The School burned down, remember?" I quickly snapped, trying to reassure him. But my eyes betrayed me as I noticed the white walls and the cold tile of the room. The fluorescent lights shone brightly and I blinked rapidly to adjust my eyes to the brightness of the room.

My back ached, probably from being in the same position for so long and my wings were folded awkwardly as I must have been pushed roughly into the crate. I grimaced and clutched the cold bars of the cage with my hands tightly.

Gazzy struggled to give me a comforting smile but it felt all wrong. Wasn't I supposed to be the one trying to lighten things up?

"So you are finally awake." A deeply accented voice of a man entered our presence.

On instinct, I stiffened, alert and ready for battle.

"What do you want from us?" I snarled, turning my head to see a Whitecoat towering above me. He was Asian, I could tell and his expression reminded me of Dr. Gunther-Hagen's. His face stretched into a smile which made me even angrier as he answered me.

"Nothing much. I'd just like to see what makes you tick," he said dismissively as if he was telling me about the weather.

"Yeah, and I'm sure you will give me a friendly dose of chemicals to see how I'll react to them," I sneered back, sarcastically. The man's face turned stormy and he knitted his eyebrows together in frustration.

"That's not what I meant-" The Whitecoat started to say.

"Oh sorry. Would you like to see how much physical exertion I can withstand as well? Get a sample of my brain? Tinker a bit with my DNA? I'm sure that you will have _so much fun_." My comments were practically dripping with sarcasm.

The Whitecoat's face swelled up, turning red with anger and it reminded me of an overripe plum.

For a few moments, his mouth opened and closed but no sound came out. Then he finally spat, "You're going to be thrown into the worst place which you could ever dream of. Much worse than hell!"

I yawned, making effort to look as if I didn't give a flying dog about what he was saying. My lack of concern had made him so angry that he was practically spiting, saliva spraying out of his mouth. He started shouting random words in Chinese which I could only imagine what they meant.

After giving me a stream of what must have been swears, I couldn't help myself and burst into laughter. My crazy maniacal amusement filled up the whole room and Gazzy smirked at me with glee. The Whitecoat kicked my crate hard, flipping it over to the side. I was knocked over inside and pressed against the side of the dog crate, metal bars painfully digging into my side.

"You won't be laughing now when I'm done with you," he finished.

Ignoring my awkward position, I stuck out my tongue.

"You know, I have the weirdest feeling of déjà vu when you say that."

Gazzy cocked his head to the side in a questioning way.

"I think that the Uber Director once said that to us. Remember that Max?" Gazzy smirked.

The Whitecoat whirled around to Gazzy's dog crate and also kicked it forcefully, accidently knocking it into a table which held test tubes. They rattled and one fell onto the floor breaking into tiny little pieces. One of the shards flew into the man legs and he hobbled away from the scene, still raging mad.

Once I was left alone with my flock, my arrogant attitude immediately turned into a serious mother hen-like fashion.

"Everyone, report!" I called out.

"Here," Iggy droned from somewhere behind.

"Here," came the muffled reply of Total.

"Here," Gazzy said, looking at me for orders.

There was a moment of silence. So still that I could hear Gazzy's deep breathing.

"Is that all? No one else?" I demanded, my heart sinking.

"No, wait. Nudge is sleeping. I can hear her snores," Iggy observed. I craned my neck to see where she was but Gazzy was blocking my view.

"I'm here too. I didn't know that I had to say 'here'," the voice of Dylan quietly said.

I smacked my forehead with a hand at Dylan's stupidity but before I could give him a retort, Mr. Anger Management Dude came back in. And he wasn't alone.

At least five others were with him, judging from the number of footsteps I could hear. Then followed a quick bark of orders in Chinese.

I quickly gave a look at Gazzy, he was the only person in my line of vision. We exchanged a knowing glance before I saw a sheet of white fabric being thrown over his crate. I could only guess that the others were given the same treatment, given the protests and shouts from Dylan and Total. The same was done for me and I felt myself being lifted up and carried somewhere.

For next few minutes, I concentrated and sorted out my thoughts. So my Flock were in China now. We were captured by another brand of crazy scientists. Now we are probably in for some testing. I mentally kicked myself for letting my Flock get into this situation. We had just escaped from a lab and now we are back. Things never seemed to change.

I clenched my fists in anger, now that I wasn't being watched by my Flock, I could let my frustration show on my face. I wouldn't dare let the Flock see my mini break down, I needed to keep up a reputation with them as a leader.

Still, I hated myself for not being ready. Fatigue was not an excuse. I had let my guards drop and assume, even for a moment that I was safe from people who would want to use me for their own greedy good. It hadn't occurred to me that there were other labs in the rest of the world. But of course there was! After all, Ella was transferred here, wasn't she?

My heart fluttered with anticipation at the thought of finally being close to Ella. Perhaps I could get a hold of her here.

When I do, I'm going to reprimand her and lecture her so much. I don't care that she is my sister and that she is the same age as I, but she's going to get it. Running off the like that! She better have a damn good reason.

It was with a great relief, when I had finally been placed down somewhere with my Flock. But where it was, was so unexpected.

I had already felt a change of temperature and atmosphere but I couldn't be sure. After all, my shots could have been playing tricks on me for all I knew.

As soon as the covers were lifted off my crate, I tensed up, adrenaline rushing into my veins. The scientists unlocked my cage much to my confusion and pushed me out into the open. In less than a second I took in my surroundings. There were trees around the place. Rough dirt was under my bare feet. There was hardly any light, the trees were too dense and the canopy was high above. I was in a forest.

But I paid no attention to this fact. I was going to fight the nearest Whitecoat here before they do anything. Of course, it could be a trap but at that moment, I didn't care. As the Whitecoat was tumbling back from me, I grabbed him by the cuff and threw a blow into his face.

"What the bloody..." The Whitecoat never finished his sentence. I kicked him in the family jewels and he screeched in pain. My grip on the Whitecoat's lab shirt tightened and I punch him in the chin, effectively knocking him out. I roughly kicked the Whitecoat away. Let the other scientists help him.

To my side, I saw that five other crates were being carried out. Iggy, Dylan, Nudge, Total and Gazzy were released but the Whitecoats had taken caution and scrambled back before they could even do so much as look at them.

Total was trembling and I could sense that something was wrong. I walked over to him and crouched down towards his eye level.

"Total?"

The dog looked up at me with scared black eyes. His ears were drooping and his tail was tucked between his legs. I swiftly picked Total up, I was no dog expert but I could safely assume that this was not normal behaviour for dogs.

Dylan came up to me and gently stroked Total's white ruffled fur.

"It was the lab."

I blinked at him.

"Being back in a lab scared him. Bad memories see?" He tapped Total's head with a slender finger.

I pushed Total into Dylan's arms since as he was more experienced at this type of thing.

I came over to Gazzy and Nudge. They were both looking as if they had been put through a lot of tests. Nudge was holding herself in her arms and Gazzy had laid a hand on her shoulder. Gazzy's hair was unruly and a layer of dirt had covered it making his blond hair have streaks of brown.

"Where are we?" He whispered.

Suddenly a long sharp stick came out of nowhere and planted itself in where Dylan's head had been. Dylan whirled around and stared into the dense thicket of the trees.

"We can give an answer to that," another heavily accented voice of a teenage girl penetrated the scene.

She slipped out of the undergrowth to reveal herself, never taking her eyes off Dylan. Her hands frozen on a long slender bow loaded with an arrow.

The girl looked like something out of a wild life anime movie. Upon her shoulders was the grey skin of an animal I couldn't identify. Her hair was untied and spread out long her shoulders and it was dark orange with black streaks. The girl wore dark clothing which camouflaged with the background it seemed to be weaved out of grasses and vines. Her eyes were a startling amber and cat-like ears protruded from the sides of her head. And when I say cat-like, I really mean _cat-like_ as _in genetically mutated humans ears made to be like a cat's_. I noticed a tail posed behind her and upon closer in inspection, her hands were clawed and had soft pads underneath.

"Mutant," I spat, moving protectively near Dylan. He wasn't part of my Flock, but I didn't want him to die.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill that mutt," the girl hissed.

Mutt? The girl was talking about Total.

And she wanted him dead.

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><p><strong>So what do the Flock is going to do? Tell me in your review!<strong>

**I don't have a Beta reader so please tell me if you spot any mistakes and I'll correct them.**

**Next chapter coming up: Max and co. meets the whole pride and gets new enemies.**

**~Wolfmilk~**


	8. The creepy museum

**Iggy: A Maximum Ride Novel**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognise. Maximum Ride belongs to James Patterson. Nuff said. **

**Seven chapters, eight reviews... :(**

**Fang POV**

Huge bold words were plastered across a tall white building and read "Ranski Museum of Science and Technology". The museum was rather large – it took up an entire block and was centred in the middle of a busy city. The cacophony of morning traffic filled the air and the temperature was humid and hot. Very hot.

Six mutants stood side-by-side in front of the building, sweltering in the heat.

There was a sign to the left displaying various images of mutants ranging from just a mild alteration to horrendously grotesque mutilated. Any ordinary kid would get nightmares from it. Fang would get flashbacks. Why would any museum have such a crude image in the front? Surely it would divert any possible guests from even considering to pay a visit.

Fang shook his head in bewilderment, but otherwise his emotions didn't show. He gritted his teeth and stepped into the museum, pushing any images of the School to the back of his mind. The others followed suit, except for Kate.

Expectantly looking back at the Asian girl, Fang's eyes widened slightly at Kate's expression. Her face was stricken with fear and terror of flashbacks which Fang knew too well about. Her eyes told Fang everything and he slowly nodded in acceptance of her situation. Memories of being back at the lab were probably too much for her to bear.

"You can wait here and keep watch," Fang called as the automatic doors of the building slammed shut behind.

Feeling a five pairs of eyes set of him, Fang lift his head high and strode to the counter where a bald man was sitting, typing away on his laptop. The man was propped his hairy legs up onto the counter and he was gulping down a greasy hamburger. Sauce was smeared all over his face and Star wrinkled her nose in disgust.

After waiting for a few moments, Fang cleared his throat. The man showed no sign of acknowledging Fang's presence. Irritated at the lack of service, Star slammed a fist down onto the counter's soft wood.

"What ya want?" The man finally said, looking up at Star, grease dripping from the side of his mouth.

"Well? Aren't you going to let us in?" Star demanded.

"You go in yourself." The receptionist grunted, waving his hand dismissively at the entrance to the exhibits. Then he burst into laughter. Fang, Star, Ratchet, Maya and Holden all looked at him.

"Never mind, just go. Just go." After that final comment, the man resumed his laptop and ignored his customers.

Eyes narrowing, Fang swept past the counter and continued his way towards the museum. It was nothing like the museum which Max had brought the Flock to. This museum had very few people in it and the rooms were dusty and grubby. There were signs of cobwebs and the floor was lined with grey tiles. There were coats of dust on the walls and old black gum was littered all over the floor. The ceiling had streaks of mould. The old museum gave its occupiers no comfort from the heat outside.

Taking one look at the interior of the place, Star announced, "What a dump!"

"At least we won't have to wait in any lines here. This building is practically empty." Ratchet said.

"C'mon guys. See if you can find any clues of the One Light here," Fang's voice rang, echoing in the hollow and empty rooms. "Any sign, a logo, a word, graffiti... anything. Spread out so we can cover everything."

As Fang's gang scattered away from him, Fang breathed a sigh of relief. Being leader was hard work and it was difficult to keep up with his group and direct and give instructions. Maya remained but Fang didn't mind her company. As much as he didn't want to admit it, Fang needed company while browsing through the museum's undoubtedly monstrous exhibits.

Fang walked up to the nearest glass case and rubbed a layer of grime off it. Instantly, he wished that he hadn't. Laid out neatly were a set of needles, test tubes, white cloths and various surgical apparatuses. Upon closer inspection, there was a hint of stained blood on them. Clearly these tools had been used. Shuddering at the thought of what these tools were used for, Fang hurried away to the next exhibit.

Maya tagged along with him, feeling the same sense of dread as him. As the pair descended into the museum, the more disturbing the displays were getting. At one point, Maya was close to throwing up in disgust.

Fang pulled up a map to check his location. As his eyes flickered back and forth, he realised that he had ventured deep into the centre of the museum and not found even a single hint that it was link

**I don't have a Beta reader so please tell me if you spot any mistakes and I'll correct them.**

**I'd just thought that I'd post this mini chapter before I tell you that this fanfic is going to be ON HOLD. Possibly even ABANDONED for the lack of interest. I don't want to write something which people won't read. Sorry.**

**~Wolfmilk~**


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